


The Beginning of the End

by Fulcrumisthebomb



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Character Death, I can't wait for MTMTE Season 2, M/M, What if fic, mutually comforting robots, so I write this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2018-01-18 14:05:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1431232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fulcrumisthebomb/pseuds/Fulcrumisthebomb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaon gets a disturbing message, which causes a violent chain reaction through the DJD.</p><p>(SPOILERS for the end of the Dark Cybertron series)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beginning of the End

**Author's Note:**

> _♪ The truth just confirmed  
>  I can't bear the sight of you anymore  
> You've become what I hate  
> Sold yourself for a bit of fame ♫_

When the databurst connected and decrypted, Kaon began laughing. Dark, humourless laughter, but with a nod of admiration at the blatantly foul joke.  

However, when he saw the sender's signature he fell silent, his hands hovering anxiously over the console.  _He_  would never jest of something so unthinkingly vicious, but the alternative was just as nauseating to consider. Unable to process what to believe, Kaon tapped in the authenticating decryption again. And again. 

The same result stubbornly repeated.

Kaon sat back in his seat and ran one hand over a shoulder, licks of nervous energy arcing from the thick coils to his fingertips. His vents were shallow and harsh, echoing around his office. Panic, he recognised with a start. He was feeling true _panic_  for the first time in...  _ever_. He had diligently trained to not feel fear, and yet here he was  _shaking_  in his seat in the dark, terrified of the unknown.

What should he do? What  _could_  he do? What could  _they_  do, if this was fact? 

Kaon didn't have the answers, but he knew who would. Venting loudly, he secured the information with his own protocols and fled from the room, slipping around Helex in the hallway without returning the greeting. Not waiting for permission, Kaon punched his personal code in the security doors and tumbled through them before they fully opened. A second later, the blessed voice washed over him, calming his ramping agitation.

"Kaon, what is wrong? Come here."

With a grateful huff, Kaon stumbled around the long, low desk and pressed to Tarn's side, holding up to offer the dataport on his shivering wrist. Tarn simply gave him a measuring stare before withdrawing the slender cable and linking it to a matching port in his arm. Kaon preceded the data transfer with all his whirling emotions of guilt, shame and fear; Tarn jerked in response and pulled Kaon up onto his thigh.

And then Tarn stilled, much as Kaon had moments ago, but Tarn was not silent in his surprise. A wailing keen broke the quiet, ripping an echoing sob from Kaon as his spark lurched with a fresh surge of despair. As foreign as fear had felt to him, to think Tarn could experience the same-  The grief, the terror, the sorrow. The  _betrayal_.

It was too much. Kaon whimpered and curled into Tarn's chassis, clutching desperately in a silent plea for comfort which was immediately granted. Long, strong arms wrapped securely around his thin frame as the mask descended to press to his helm, the low voice still murmuring of pain. Kaon pressed into the touches hungrily, returning them as he tried to control his erratic vents.

"I do not understand," he finally managed to gasp, one hand drifting up to frame Tarn's mask. "Tarn, I- I do not understand. I  _need_ to understand."

_"'You are being deceived.'"_  They both shuddered at the quote. "It is- This is-,"

Kaon mumbled nonsense as Tarn's optics widened; never had he heard their leader at a loss for words, and that triggered another layer of related fear. "I'm here, Tarn," he finally whispered, pressing his face into the crook of Tarn's neck. What else could he say? What comfort could he give when Megatron himself had betrayed their cause?

"Yes, you are," Tarn murmured, his tone calmer, soothing, than the chaos of hysteria moments ago. "My wonderful, brave,  _loyal_ Kaon."

Kaon shivered again. The connotations of being loyal suddenly had a new meaning he'd never considered. "What's going to happen?" he asked hollowly, pulling back just enough to smash his face to Tarn's mask, nuzzling hard, still begging for reassurance. "What- What are we going to do?"

Tarn straightened, keeping Kaon flush to his chassis as the optics narrowed to thin slits. "Broadcast this message shipwide, then set a course for Cybertron. Our List's priority has changed." The furious gaze slipped down to meet Kaon's. "We are going to do our job."

\--------------------

Never once had Kaon been apprehensive about a D.J.D. target. Through the vorns since Kaon had joined, they had tracked down and eliminated an endless line of criminals. There was always the warm satisfaction of announcing the next location to the team, the thrill of the chase, the joy of execution.

This fugitive would bring no pleasure. Megatron, their exalted leader, the pinnacle of everything Kaon believed and thought and loved, had betrayed them.

It was easier to process after having time during their journey to do so, over and over, viewing and reviewing the datafile Soundwave had sent. It was easier with Tarn's quiet whispers and gentle hands trailing across his frame, mutually reaffirming their existence as their sparks merged and fused with shared pleasure and purpose.

_Megatron betrayed us._

Kaon could think the phrase without pain, now. Soon, Tarn would correct this offense like he had so many others and they would continue on. 

A heavy knock at the door jolted him from his thoughts. Kaon twisted just as Tesarus ducked to enter his office, and he nodded with a strained smile.

"Almost there?"

"The target boarded a ship very recently," Kaon reported, pointing to the screen nearby. "Very easy to track. We should make contact within a cycle; sooner if Tarn wishes."

"Excellent," Tesarus grunted, and Kaon smiled again to himself as he swiveled back to his console. "And you're sure he's-?"

" _Of course_  I'm certain," Kaon snapped, then hunched his shoulders. "I apologise, Tes. I am... uneasy. And I will be until this mission is- is complete."

"Yeah. Me too."

Kaon sighed, fidgeting in his seat and rubbing at a shoulder. "Oh, have you ask _ssskkhhhh-?!_ " A click at his neck, and a dampener charge raced painfully through his frame, fritzing his vocaliser. Turning in reflex, Kaon found himself staring down the barrel of a  _very_  large gun.

"But not too sorry to scrap you," Tesarus chuckled, smirking as he tilted his head up to stare disdainfully down at Kaon. "Been waiting for this for a long time, you sneaky little slagger. Any last words?"

_Why?_  was at the top of questions, but Kaon was too angry to consider humouring his teammate. He was sick of the universe not making sense and something inside him snapped; the dampener at his neck wouldn't tear off, but he was still tiny and quick compared to the gigantic mech. He pulled at vital wiring, he scratched at vulnerable gaps, he screamed and fought and spit curses- but it wasn't enough. Less than a klik later Tesarus' pede had pinned him to the floor. 

 "Let's try that again," Tesarus said with a cruel laugh as he shoved the muzzle in Kaon's face. "You wanna say anything before I blow you to pieces?"

Frantically he tried to ping Tarn again without success; the dampener was extremely thorough. Fear crawled through his frame, just as unsettling as it had been cycles ago when he'd first received the message; not fear of death, but fear for the others. Would they learn in time before Tesarus killed them? Surely Tarn would discover this treachery in time to save them.

Kaon was afraid to leave them. They were family, Tarn was his bonded,  _oh_ , Tarn would  _suffer_  if his spark was extinguished-

A wash of familiarity warmed Kaon's spark and he gasped in relief.

"Pick the gun up, Tesarus," Tarn's smooth voice cooed from the shadows.

Tesarus had just enough time for an explosive curse before his frame began to obey. Kaon rolled away as soon as the pressing weight was removed, coaxed by Tarn's lilting tone, then watched with grim satisfaction as the giant mech lifted the gun, resting the barrel against his chassis as he strained to keep a finger on the trigger.

Tarn circled him carefully, keeping up a stream of commands as he bent to pick up Kaon, protecting the slender frame with both massive hands. "Now, Tesarus, confess. Confess to me this dark secret that has festered within your spark all these vorns."

"A- Agent 113," Tesarus said through gritted dentae. "Deep cover Autobot operative."

"What a tremendous disappointment," Tarn murmured, and Kaon trembled at the gravity of emotion conveyed, grateful he had never earned such a vicious reproach. Tesarus fell to his knees with a torturous cry, still clutching the gun at a right angle to his frame.

"I don't have the time to waste on you," Tarn said coolly. Tesarus whimpered. "Save me the effort. Now, Tesarus.  _Now._ "

Tarn's last command was lost in the gun blast; Kaon's optics shuttered in habitual reflex, and the room was oppressively silent once again.

"Are you harmed?" Tarn asked, blunt fingertips tracing the line of his helm, freezing when he found the dampener. Angry muttering surrounded Kaon as Tarn picked it off, setting off a blossom of pain that nearly overwhelmed him with feedback.

"Thank... you," Kaon panted, rolling his helm to control the residual burn. "Tarn, I couldn't... contact you, I had no idea... I- I..."

"I've known there was a spy within our ranks for some time," Tarn explained quietly as he stepped over the crumpled corpse and into the hallway. 

"How... did you know who it was?"

Tarn's optics narrowed with a smile. "I didn't, but I  _did_  know you were  _not_ the mole. I have become one with you, Kaon; I know your very spark, and I know you would never betray us. I simply had to watch  _you_ , and wait for them to reveal themselves."

The praise sparked a familiar warmth through Kaon's frame, his vocaliser choking on his gratitude as he curled into the safe embrace.

**Author's Note:**

> Who is Agent 113? We still don't know as of publishing this fic, but I chose Tesarus because that fucker _ate_ Flywheels and _he must pay._


End file.
